Nick Kyrgios’ run at the 2018 Australian Open may be over his, but his journey towards reaching his full potential appears to only just begun.

The Australian coasted through the opening two rounds at Melbourne Park without dropping a set against Rodrigo Dutra Silva and Viktor Troicki.

Carrying that momentum into his third match, Kyrgios negotiated his first real test of the tournament against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a memorable four-set victory.

Even before his fourth-round meeting with Grigor Dimitrov, the divisive 22-year-old had already reminded tennis fans why his incredible ability shouldn’t be seen as going to waste.

Kyrgios demonstrated admirable maturity during his loss to the World No. 3, winning the only set of the match that wasn’t decided by a tie-breaker.

People have been waiting for the two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist to prove his talent won’t continue to be undermined by emotional fragility.

At last, it seems he might just have passed the test.

However, if Kyrgios’ on-court performances weren’t convincing enough, his doubles partner has provided a massive boost to his case.

Matt Reid has revealed the sacrifice Kyrgios was willing to give for the sake of seeing out their place in the doubles draw.

The Australian played alongside Reid in 39-degree heat the day before his third-round win over Tsonga, although he visibly regretted that decision while playing the Frenchman.

But that didn’t stop him from wanting to contest round three of the doubles – a day before his crucial meeting with Dimitrov on Sunday – until Reid insisted it would be a mistake.

"He's always been a team player, that's the best way to describe him and when we were talking about the doubles he was the one that wanted to play and I was shocked," he said, per the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I assumed we were going to pull out but said 'let's get ready for tomorrow' and I was pumped, but then I got back to the house and started thinking maybe that's not the best idea for him moving forward.

"I said 'mate I don't want to be the reason that could hold you back from winning a slam, you've done so much for me already and I'm sure we'll get more chances through the year’.

"Even though he ended up losing it was pretty impressive that he was going to sacrifice his singles performance just to help me out.”

While it’s been one of the main criticisms levelled at Kyrgios throughout his career, his concentration and desire to succeed certainly can’t be faulted on this occasion.

Like him or not, the World No. 17 looks to be making an effort to address the one glaring weakness in his otherwise formidable game.